LANSING, Mich. – Michigan's elections board considered President-elect Donald Trump's request to block a hand recount of all 4.8 million ballots cast in the state and was deadlocked, blocking the objection. The hand recount is expected to begin Tuesday.
The elections board was split along party lines.
Lawyers for the Trump campaign argued Thursday that Green Party nominee Jill Stein, a "bottom-dwelling candidate," cannot seek the expensive, time-consuming recount because she was not "aggrieved" to the point where potential miscounting of votes could have cost her the election. She garnered just 1 percent in Michigan.
They also said in their objection that Stein waited until the last minute to file her recount petition Wednesday, making it impossible to finish by a Dec. 13 deadline.
UPDATE: Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette announced Friday morning that he filed a lawsuit on behalf of the people of Michigan to stop a request by Green party candidate Jill Stein to recount the state's presidential election results by hand.
READ: AG Schuette files lawsuit to stop recount of Michigan's presidential election results
Trump files lawsuit to block recount
Trump's team also is asking for a leave to go directly to the Supreme Court for a decision. They are suing the election officials to stop the recount.
Stein countered that Trump's "cynical efforts to delay the recount and create unnecessary costs for taxpayers are shameful and outrageous." His objections suspended the planned Friday start of the recount until next week.
A recount is already underway in Wisconsin, which Trump won by roughly 22,000 votes and where the first reporting of numbers was expected Friday. In Pennsylvania, a hearing was scheduled for Monday on Stein's push to secure a court-ordered statewide recount, a legal maneuver that has never been tried, according to one of the attorneys who filed it.
Recounts were not expected to flip nearly enough votes to change the outcome in any of the states.
The Wisconsin recount doesn't carry nearly the same drama as the Florida recount in 2000, when the outcome of the presidential race between Al Gore and George W. Bush hung in the balance.
"This is certainly not Bush v. Gore," said Mike Haas, Wisconsin's chief elections administrator.
Even so, the campaigns for Trump, Clinton and Stein all had observers spread throughout the state to watch the process.
The recount will have to move quickly. The federal deadline to certify the vote to avoid having the fate of Wisconsin's 10 electoral votes decided by Congress is Dec. 13. Even if that were to happen, the votes would almost certainly go to Trump, since Republicans control both chambers of Congress.
Stein has argued, without evidence, that irregularities in the votes in all three states suggest that there could have been tampering with the vote, perhaps through a well-coordinated, highly complex cyberattack.
"Verifying the vote through this recount is the only way to confirm that every vote has been counted securely and accurately and is not compromised by machine or human error, or by tampering or hacking," Stein said.
Stein's critics, including the Wisconsin Republican Party, contend that she is a little-known candidate who is merely trying to raise her profile while raising millions of dollars.
The Wisconsin recount was estimated to cost about $3.9 million. Stein paid $973,250 for the requested recount in Michigan. Michigan's Republican secretary of state, Ruth Johnson, has said a recount could cost $5 million total.
(AP) — The Latest on presidential recount efforts in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania
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10 p.m.
Michigan's attorney general has asked the state Supreme Court to block a potential recount of the state's presidential vote, which was won by his fellow Republican, Donald Trump.
Attorney General Bill Schuette, like the Trump campaign, argues that Green Party candidate Jill Stein cannot seek the recount because she was not "aggrieved" to the point at which a potential miscounting of votes could have cost her the election. She garnered 1 percent of Michigan's vote.
The filing Friday delayed the start of a state election board meeting to consider Trump's request to block the hand recount of all 4.8 million ballots cast in Michigan. Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton in Michigan by 10,700 votes.
A recount is already underway in Wisconsin. Stein also wants a court-ordered statewide recount in Pennsylvania.
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8:40 a.m.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker says he doesn't think the presidential recount ongoing in his state will result in any significant change in the results.
Donald Trump won Wisconsin by about 22,000 votes, or less than 1 percentage point, over Hillary Clinton. Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein requested the recount which began on Thursday and has to be completed by Dec. 13.
Walker told reporters Friday that he assumes the results will be fairly similar once the recount is done. He says, "Anytime there's a canvass or a recount there's slight adjustments" but he doesn't expect Trump's margin of victory to change much.
Walker also says he's open to changing Wisconsin law to prevent candidates like Stein who have no chance of winning in a recount to request one.
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12:03 a.m.
Michigan's elections board will consider President-elect Donald Trump's request to block a hand recount of all 4.8 million ballots cast in the state he won by 10,700 votes over Hillary Clinton.
Arguments will be heard Friday.
A recount is already underway in Wisconsin, where the first reporting of numbers is expected Friday. In Pennsylvania, a hearing is scheduled for Monday on Stein's push to secure a court-ordered statewide recount.
Recounts aren't expected to flip nearly enough votes to change the outcome in any of the three states.
Lawyers for the Trump campaign argue that Green Party candidate Jill Stein can't seek the recount in Michigan because she wasn't "aggrieved" to the point where potential miscounting of votes could have cost her the election. She garnered 1 percent of Michigan's vote.